Wednesday, 26 October 2016

A look inside Halo: Ground Command, Battle for Reach

Hello all.

I recently
experienced a day that I was assured would be important by almost everyone: my
eighteenth birthday. While the day itself didn’t prove to be much more than a
pleasant day spent with my extended family, I did receive a certain gift that
got (and still does have) me very excited.

Several
months ago my dad mentioned the new game Halo: Ground Command that was coming
out as a sister game to space based Halo game Spartan Miniatures already had.
He suggested that I might like the starter set for my eighteenth, and I said
something along the lines of “that’d be okay I guess.” I then proceeded to
forget about the event nigh on completely until a week ago when I sat down at
the dining table to open this year’s presents.

Naturally I
was both astonished and delighted to find that Halo: Ground Command, Battle for
Reach was among them!

The minis
themselves are of reasonably decent quality I’d say, although the casting in
some cases leaves a little to be desired. The number of models is very
satisfactory, with the set including 35 marines, 36 grunts, 5 elites, 3
SPARTANS, 2 warthogs, 3 ghosts and 2 hunters. On top of this are all of the standard
materials needed to play the game: rule book, dice etc.

One of the
more interesting things in the set is that it includes a fairly sizeable amount
of terrain. An assortment of smaller pieces that look as if they’re likely to
serve as objective markers or minor cover (I’ve only given the rules the quick
once over so I’m not too sure how the system works yet) are included, all based
off of various things which can be found within the original game.

The really
cool part for me though was the two UNSC bunkers the set has. They’re modelled
to blend excellently with similar structures from the game Halo: Reach. While
they do initially give the illusions that they are snap together, I was a
little disappointed to find that this was not the case, and that glue will most
certainly be required. I’m a little bit iffy about the printed textures for
them, as I would really have preferred to paint them myself, but the images of
the finished models that I’ve seen imply that they’ll still turn out looking
pretty good. In the end though I may still pull them apart and paint them
myself but we’ll just have to see.

The little
bit of assembly I’ve done so far has proven to be a bit, difficult. All of the
models have ample numbers of offshoots that need to be trimmed, and the weak
nature of the grunts’ knees means that I’ve already got two snapped limbs to
deal with. Regardless, the two units I’ve gotten based up thus far (one of
marine rifle men and one of grunt minors) look pretty nice, and have me itching
for the end of the school year.

Now, enough
discussion, let’s have a look at the models themselves.

Marine Riflemen

SPARTANS, with a variety of weapons. Spartan laser, rocket launcher and assault rifle (left to right)

Rocket Launcher Team

A warthog, some assembly still required

Marine Command Squad

Marine Heavy Machine Gun Team

Grunts armed with plasma pistols and grenades

Elite Minors

Elite Zealot

One of the two hunters which, while cut off the sprue, still needs some filing done

A sample of the three smaller terrain pieces. There were two of both the crate and the Covenant drop pod, and three of the Forerunner barricades

One of the two units I've been able to find the time to assemble: Grunt minors with one Fuel Rod Cannon element attached (front left)

Marine Riflemen

A glueless assembly run of one of the two bunkers. Still not sure how I feel about the printed textures.

On top of
all of the stuff I’ve talked about so far, the set also came with this fine
fellow. He stands at an impressive 8cm tall, this resin elite is really a very
lovely model. While I can’t fathom how I’d ever use him in a game, he should
make an excellent display piece once I can find the time to do him up.

The Green Stuff will probably need a little tidying up at some point

All in all
I’d say the set is a pretty cool, albeit somewhat expensive one. I think I can safely
recommend it to anyone who’s curious and has the extra cash, though if you’re
tight on hobby money you might want to direct your funds towards more familiar
investments. Interested to see how these guys paint up, and I’ll be sure to let
you guys know how they come out.

Hope you
enjoyed this little review of mine and I hope to you’ll consider stopping by
again in the future.